Campground dress code as relaxed as its guests
by Tom Giffy
Leader- Telegram Staff
HIXTON -- In ancient Roman mythology Aurora is the goddess of the dawn -- the time of day that is sun-drenched, innocent and full of promise.
Bob and Nancy Reinke of rural Hixton hope their new venture, Aurora Gardens, shares some of these qualities with its fabled namesake. Aurora Gardens officially opened the summer of 2001 at Triple R Resort; the 525-acre campground the couple has owned in rural Jackson County for a decade.
What sets Aurora Gardens apart from the previous campground isn't the peaceful rural setting. It isn't the five-acre lake where visitors frolic in the pristine waters as others sunbathe on the shore. It isn't the shady campsites or the miles of hiking trails. All these features are just as they were before - natural.
Now, however, the clientele is natural as well. Or, perhaps more accurately, they are au naturel.
Since May, Aurora Gardens has operated as a clothing-optional resort, open to visitors from throughout the Midwest who prefer to relax in the buff. The resort has a growing group of several dozen campers who visit on the weekends and who, despite their varying backgrounds and hometowns, all have one thing in common - they enjoy socializing with other nudists.
When Bob and Nancy took over management of the campground from their son and daughter-in-law last winter, they decided to make the business clothing-optional all the time, hoping to tap the increasingly lucrative nudist market.
According to the American Association of Nude Recreation, nude recreation was an estimated $400-million-a-year business in 1998. This figure has more than doubled in the past decade, said Carolyn Hawkins, public relations coordinator for AANR. The association has more than 244 affiliated clubs and resorts, and its individual membership has grown about 70 percent to more than 50,000 in 10 years, Hawkins said.
Aurora Gardens is now affiliated with AANR. Hawkins said it is only the second AANR-member nudist club in the state. The other is Valley View Recreation Club near Cambridge.
"People don't just come out here to take their clothes off," Nancy explained when asked about the campground's clientele. "They come out here to meet other people."
Chris and Neil, a married Wisconsin couple who asked that their last name not be used, lounged with a few others in the sun by the lake. Chris explained why she and her husband visit nudist camps.
"You are who you are," she said. "There's no pretense. You say,'This is the way I am and if you don't like it, don't look.'"
Removing clothing removes social barriers between people, allowing them freedom to relate to each other, campers said.
"The classes kind of disappear," Neil added.
Connie, a Tomah woman who visits Aurora Gardens with her husband, Randy, said they camp in the nude for the same reasons most people camp with their clothing: to enjoy a quiet respite from the pressures of daily life.
The nudist lifestyle, numerous campers pointed out half-jokingly, also saves on laundry.
"Whether I'm going to socialize with the people or change the oil in a tractor, I'm wearing the right clothes," Bob said.
For Roger, another camper, nudism offers the simple enjoyments of being someplace where he doesn't have to wear clothes.
"Just being here to relax is a lot for me," said Roger, who sat by the lake with nothing but sunglasses, sandals and a flyswatter.
"We're just ordinary people really," said Denny Lawrence, a campground regular from Minnesota who has been a nudist most of his life. Lawrence said he feels much better when he's nude in the outdoors, as if he was solar-powered.
"All of a sudden I feel I'm charging like a battery," he said.
In Bob's estimation nudists tend to be more laid-back, friendly, helpful and confident than the population at large.
"Their self-appreciation of body image feeds into their confidence," he said.
The Reinkes said they were upfront about their plans with local government leaders, who were in turn "elated" to learn how a growing resort could boost other businesses and how the possible addition of condominiums and other facilities would increase the town's tax base.
The Garden Valley Town Board was impressed by the Reinkes' plans and their openness about a nudist campground, said town Chairman Vince Ruzic.
"As long as they don't try to push their lifestyle on anyone else, I don't know why anyone would be against it," he said.
Even though their experiences with local leaders, business owners and neighbors have been positive, the Reinkes know many in the public have misconceptions about nudism. Bob fears the first thing many non-nudists -- or "textiles" -- think when they hear about nudism is sex.
The assumption that nudism is about sex "couldn't be further from the truth," Randy said.
In fact the campground's rules prohibit suggestive familiarity, language or behavior; intimate contact; or sexually provocative behavior.
"However", the rules read, "if you continue to remain clothed while at Aurora Gardens, we're going to wonder about your motivation to be here."
Some people are afraid to try nudism because they believe they'll encounter people much more attractive than them, which the Reinkes said is also a misconception.
"We don't have Miss America out here, or Mr. Atlas," Nancy said.
The Reinkes have ambitious plans for improving the campground in the future. They envision, among other things, a nine-hole golf course, condominiums, an indoor pool and a multipurpose recreational room that would help make Aurora Gardens a year-round attraction.
Despite the stress and activity of operating the campground, the Reinkes are happy they're attracting visitors who love it as much as they do -- as well as living a lifestyle they find natural and comfortable.
In his previous career, Bob said, he awoke each day worrying about what clothes he had to wear to the office.
"Now when I get up in the morning, I wear only the wonderful suit my creator made for me," he said.
